We’ve just realised it’s been ages since we posted anything, so this is a broad update on what we’ve been up to!
We’re now officially resident in Bulgaria; we got our residency ID cards, and the car is now registered on Bulgarian plates. We were so pleased to have the help of Yonko, our advocate, to help with this, as we’d have been totally lost in the bureaucracy here. The MOT was brilliant. They wanted to inspect the trailer more than the car. The car was just ‘Yup, it’s got an engine, it passes’, but the trailer got every nut and bolt inspected, and they wanted to know the far end of a fart about it.
The beginning of the month saw a cold snap, and we thought winter was coming (it still is!), so that spurred us on to greater efforts in getting the house insulated and ready for winter. The bathroom now has insulated walls and loft, and the ceiling beams have been stripped ready for repairing the ceiling, all the windows are puttied and vaguely draft-proof, Julie has been busy making thick curtains for all the doors and windows, and all three pechkas have been cleaned, lit and tested.
This time of year has been very busy both in the garden and the kitchen. A lot of time has been spent collecting walnuts to keep us through the winter, and gathering in the last of the pears and apples. We’ve now got a freezer full of stewed fruit, and lots of jars of apple jelly, grape jelly ( grapes courtesy of our neighbour), spiced pear conserve and quince jam, and we’ve stored some in our spare room which is doubling up as a winter food store. Along with that, our friends have also given us surplus veg, and we’ve been buying cheap things off the market in Popovo, and freezing these, or making pickles and preserves out of them. We’ve now got a well-stocked freezer and larder, which we weren’t expecting to have at this stage in our project, so we’re dead chuffed there!
Apparently, now is the time to start getting onions and garlic in ready for next year, so Julie’s been busy creating some beds to plant in. We’ve got four done so far, and plans for another four for this year. We need to plan where our raspberries and blackberries are going as we will plant those next month.
It’s not all been work, we’ve been having fun too. Apart from a really excellent party, a few nights at the bar, and trips out with friends collecting mushrooms to dry for the kitchen, and clay to repair walls, I’ve started accordion lessons (gulp) from one of the areas top accordion players. Easy stuff to start with, but he’s thrown me in at the deep end with the latest tune! Note that Julie is nowhere to be seen while I’m practising!
That’s it for now, except to say that our cat, Fog, is totally bonkers, and completely without fear. He runs around in the rafters of the barns without a care, tries to out-fierce the stray dog that visits our garden, and even tried to see off a cat twice his size that ventured near the house. What a star! But when he’s not terrorising the other animal life, he’s a little softy, usually to be found either in a warm armpit or under the pechka.
Congratulations on becoming official Bulgaria residents! Great job on all the work you’ve been doing!!
hey Guys you seem to be getting it all together !!!
great stuff !!! you will make it through the winter … won’t be easy but you will do it !!! The Canadian winters were hard and would get as low as 40 below…. but we had central heating !!!.. I think Bulgaria will be a dry cold, which is so different from the uk damp cold.. I have felt colder here in England at about minus three.. than in Canada at minus 30 !!!!
I think that’s right Marilyn, people here say it’s a very dry cold, so doesn’t actually feel that cold, although you still have to watch touching anything metal as it can stick to your skin, you’ll know about that!
Lovely update. You both are doing so well, what a fantastic sense of achievement you must have (or will that be after you’ve survived your first winter?). Other than guarding the wood and terrorising the local cats and dogs, is Fog proving to be useful and keeping vermin at bay?
xx
He’s certainly catching mice, which is good. We’re not sure he’s big enough to catch a rat yet, but he’s now 2 3/4 pounds and growing fast, so hopefully soon he’ll be a champion rat catcher. He’s getting more independent, and spending more time out and about now, which is great.
You write as delightfully and informatively as ever – I really enjoy reading your story.
I know you are not completely vegetarian so hope you have access to some meat protein for the winter – dried mouse?
Lol, it’s a thought, but we’d not get much meat off a mouse. We’re thinking of getting buying a butchered pig for winter, we’ll see if we can find maybe a half one to start with, freezer space allowing, that is.
Hello Joe and Julie, I’ve just come upon your blog and its really great to see how your dream is becoming a reality. A very challenging thing to do. I’m so pleased for you and its really inspiring. I know you’re busy but do keep in touch.
Have you thought about running art holidays? Best wishes Mark
Hi Mark, thanks for dropping by our blog, it’s great to hear from you! Yes, we have thought of running art holidays, but that’s a long way off yet! Watch this space for updates!
was wondering how you were getting on …… no wonder nothing appeared on the blog …. you’ve been soooo busy!!! great to read the stories, although the pictures could stand alone to tell the tale of the massive improvements made ….. l’m sure you have a Kindle but do you want any books? ….. there’s usually some spare from our U3A book circle xxx Carol in Penrith
Hi Carol, the only kindle we have is what we use to light the fire 🙂 Thanks for the offer of books. We’re not sure we’ll have the time over winter. Everyone else thinks we will, but we’re not so sure. Anyway, we have plenty to read here, but we’ll ask if we run out of reading material!